Called to Serve

Brothers and Sisters,

The time has finally come. I'm finally leaving to become a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'll be serving as a missionary in the Chile Santiago North mission for about 24 months.

First off I'll be in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT for about two months. There I'll get the chance to learn Spanish (as much as you can in two months I guess) and review the doctrine that I'll be teaching. I hear it is a pretty intense experience at the MTC. I'm personally really looking forward to moving to my next phase of preparation at the MTC.

About mid-september I'll finally be in the beautiful city of Santiago, Chile! That will be so awesome, and from there I'll get started doing the Lord's work and bringing His children into His true gospel.

The work consists of finding people to teach, and then teaching them the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and helping them change so that they can more fully follow the example of Jesus Christ.

I truly believe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be true. The Book of Mormon is a true book, it is another testament of Jesus Christ, along with the Old and New Testaments. Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God and called to restore his Gospel on this earth in the latter days. I feel very privileged to serve as a representative of this great Chuch to God's children in the land of Chile.

The Words of an Apostle

I have been absolutely blessed beyond measure the past year and a half. Up until about half way through my senior year I've had the opportunity to meet and listen to the words of one apostle, Elder Russel M. Nelson when I was very young. Within the past year or so I've listened up close and met (in a manner of speaking) Elder M. Russel Ballard, Elder Robert D. Hales, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (3 times), President Thomas S. Monson, and just tonight I met Elder Richard G. Scott.

I had a regional conference with the attendance of President Boyd K. Packer and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, and I've had the opportunity to attend three sessions of conference in the conference center.

The Lord has poured out so many blessings of counsel, guidance, and inspiration from his most excellent servants.

Tonight I had the chance to go see Elder Scott speak at a nearby stake conference in Orem, the invitation coming from my friend Dave whos father was recently called into the First Quorum of the Seventy and also spoke tonight. The night was unforgettable, I had the chance to hear an apostle of God bear witness that Jesus Christ lives! He is our savior and redeemer.

I had the chance to meet with him afterwards and I told him that myself, Jordan, and Matt were preparing to go on a mission. His words were this, "That is the absolutely most important thing you can do. Don't let ANYTHING get in the way of serving a mission." I was absolutely inspired by his words and his testimony.

I was also able to meet with Elder Nielsen and Sister Nielsen. They are very loving and fantastic people, I can see now where Dave gets it. I felt the Spirit SO strong tonight- my testimony was very strenghened.

I testify that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles act as the mouthpieces of God. They have the authority to speak in His name and have divinely inspired councel for each and every one of us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, he paid for each and every one of our sins. He lives! He has a body of flesh and blood, obtained after He was resurrected. The Gospel is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Called to Serve

So I know its been almost three months since I updated this blog. Please forgive me.

I have some exciting news. Three weeks ago I recieved a called from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to serve as a missionary and representative of the church for the space of 24 months. I've been asked to labor for that time in the Chile Santiago North mission. I'll be entering the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT on July 15th. Approximately 3.4 months from now.

I have never been so excited or happy in my life. I can't believe I'll learn to read and write Spanish! I was kind of freaking out, but then my friend Dave, who is serving a mission in Japan, showed me a Japanese Book of Mormon and I felt a little humbled.

This is exactly what I want to be doing. It's kind of a bummer that I'll have to wait around for a few months before I ship out.

I can't wait to preach to the people of Santiago, its going to be awesome.

The Words of a Prophet

I must say that this has been one of the best weeks ever and we're only on Wednesday.

I feel so blessed to be a student at BYU and have amazing opportunites that millions and millions of other members of my faith can only dream of.

On Sunday evening, the Prophet himself came to speak on campus. Thomas S. Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints came to speak directly to the student body. Me and my boy Matt Ballard went straight to the Marriott Center after church and set up camp to wait in line about 5 hours before President Monson's address. Despite the freezing weather we made a great time of it, singing hymns with the other students at the head of the line and all just waiting in anticipation of seeing God's prophet up close. The time finally came when they opened the doors and let me tell you, I've never seen such a mad rush through the door. Think Black Friday. Anyways, my friend and I ended up getting the best seats in the house, the front left floor seating. That way we ended up being directly in front of the Prophet as he made his way to and from the podium.

His address was magnificient. He spoke of the need for preparation in life. He spoke of the importance of education and the benefits that preparation brings to life. What really stuck out to me was his admonishment of not starting out great but then allowing oneself to fizzle out near the end. I think I've really learned from my mistake of second semester of senior year- senioritis. I don't want that to happen again. Anyways, as he was walking from the podium I had the opportunity to be within three feet of the man. It was a drastically humbling and powerful experience.

If that wasn't enough, Elder Holland came to speak to the students at BYU for the weekly Tuesday morning devotional. I have been blessed enough to see Elder Holland speak up close three times in the past year. My friend Jordan and I went a couple hours early and got a similar seat to the one I had on Sunday. His words really brought the spirit to me. He spoke of Lot's wife and her mistake in the longing for the wickedness and sin of her past. He spoke about not living in the mistakes or blunders of the past, or living in the fear of the future. He stressed that we must charge forward with confidence and find joy in the here and now. He also commanded of us that we must bring each other up instead of bringing each other down by bringing up the past.

After it was over I had the chance to shake his hand and thank him for his sacrifice in the church. I am so blessed, this was my second chance to thank and shake his hand in the past year.

I have a testimony that I would still have even if I never got the chance to see these glorious men in person. They are men called of God to do His work here on the earth. The words they speak are truth and scripture and have shaped my life and testimony.

Concerts

I know this was all a week ago but I've been meaning to get around to this.

Last Saturday I had the chance to go to two phenomenal concerts. The first was at Alex Graves' event- This Ain't Yer Granny's Christmas Pageant. I loved it, especially because Cameron Hodges played so much new material. I'm a big fan. Its always a treat to listen to Alex Graves' lyrical poetry. 1950s Alcoholism will always be my all time favorite but I thought his best reading of the night was by far Legalism Pharisitical and She's So Beautiful- I love the jazzy vibe that one brings.

My biggest dilemma of winter break is the fact that Alex's show coincided the same night with the homecoming concert of The Scene Aesthetic. SC is one of my favorite bands, its a two-man band, and it just so happens that the other member has been on an LDS mission for the past two years and just got back two weeks ago. So they finally had a legit concert- on the same night. Anyway, it was vital for me to see them play.

I left over half way through Alex's show and my friend Casey and I arrived at el Corazon in Seattle in the nick of time to catch the headline show of The Scene Aesthetic. It was a phenomenal song. They played my favorite track- So Peter You've Become a Pirate. They also covered one of my all-time favorites- I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie. I even got the chance to meet up with group member Eric and talk to him a little about his mission. I even got a pic. It was a superb night of music- not one I'll forget any time soon.

Today I got the Melchizedeck Priesthood

So this morning something happened that was a pretty big deal. I was given the Melchizedek Priesthood. This gives me the authority to perform certain ordinances. I have the authority to baptize people into our church. I can give blessings to individuals- the ordinance involves laying my hands on their head and communicating with God- asking him to bestow a particular blessing on the individual.

I'm really excited to have this power- but what is important to understand is that authority only comes through humility and submission to God. All of the power comes through Him and not through me. If anything, this authority gives me the responsibility to act as His servant and His tool. I hope I'm given the opportunity to weild it to help His children.

I want to speak about something that has been very important to me in the past few months. Its a very special belief in my religion, and that is the belief that it is possible for all of God's children to actually become like Him. Our doctrine is slightly vague on this concept but I interpret it as being my opportunity to act as our Father in Heaven does someday and weild the same power that he does.

To some of you that may sound quite outlandish- let me help you understand. One of the consistent traits of fathership throughout humanity is the father's hope for his child to succeed in life. If the father fills his role, it is usually the child's hope to someday become like his or her father. I like to think that our Father in Heaven greatly wants us to succeed and wants us to progress and match Him in power. This is doctrine that can be found in a teaching that we call the Oath and the Covenant- if we use our authority worthily and act as a servant of the Lord then we will have all the Father hath- this can be found in Doctrine and Covenants section 84 verses 33-44 if you want to read it for yourself.

The reason I bring this up is because receiving and living worthily to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood is one step in eventually becoming like my Father in Heaven. God uses the Melchizedek Priesthood to do all that He does. I can only hope to do His work with this new mandate.

Election Without Representation

A ridiculous system of presidential election has run rampant in our country nearly from the day of its inception. It thwarts the will of the majority in an election that is decided by electors and not the American people themselves. How can the United States of America claim to be an example of democracy to the international community if its most important election is lacking fundamental representation? It can’t. In our system of democracy, in terms of electing the highest office in the land, the majority should rule and every vote should be counted as equal. Our Electoral College system of election is outdated and does not serve our country’s needs for adequate representation and needs to be abolished. We need a bipartisan movement to put in place a direct election for president.
Our country’s Declaration of Independence claims very clearly that all men are created equal- yet when voting for president this is very far from the truth. Because of the Electoral College, votes in a small state like Wyoming count for much more than those in a populous state like California. In California, there are approximately 645,455 voters per electoral vote compared to only 166, 666 voters per electoral vote in Wyoming. Because our current system promises at least three electoral votes to all states, Wyoming, with a population of 500,000, is overrepresented in our electorate, with the larger states having less say on who is president of their country. In a direct election for the presidency, a vote in Sacramento would count exactly the same as a vote in Cheyenne.
The Electoral College distorts the campaigning of presidential-hopefuls. Because the majority of states in the USA consistently lean either Republican or Democrat election after election, presidential candidates focus solely on the swing states. Renowned New York Times reporter James Booker said on the matter, “We are hearing far more this year about the issue of storing hazardous waste at Yucca Mountain, an important one for Nevada's 2.2 million residents, than about securing ports against terrorism, a vital concern for 19.2 million New Yorkers.” Candidates focus all of their time, money, and promises on a select few states instead of addressing nationwide concerns. If a direct election were held, the entire electorate would be much more educated and exposed to each candidate and in turn each candidate would be much clearer on his or her policies and promises to the entire nation because the candidates would have to cater to the nation as a whole- not just to the small portion of citizens residing in the swing states. This is because they wouldn’t be pandering to just a handful of the small swings states to gain the “swing vote.”
Under the Electoral College it is possible for candidates to win the election without having the majority vote. A total of 18 elections have ended that way; this means that a total of 1/3 of all of our presidents have been elected with a minority of the vote in the USA (Dahl). How is this democracy? The whole point of a vote is that the public opinion and ideology will be implemented in government through a representative president. This was especially the case in the election of 2000. With such a slim margin of electoral votes between the two candidates, the election was decided by a court case! That is a true testament of how broken the Electoral College system is. When the minority of the population gets the choice in the matter it is not beneficial to the concept of democracy. In the recent 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 365 electoral votes while Republican John McCain gained only 173. The fact is, however, that Obama didn’t receive over two times the amount of votes from McCain. Obama received 53% of and McCain received 46% of votes from citizens (CNN). The Electoral College skews the results and does not directly reflect the public opinion.
The rules of the Electoral College are set-up to possibly cause a great deal of trouble. Firstly, the electors that are elected in the general election are not bound to the candidate they represent. They are expected to represent the vote of the people but they aren’t bound to by law. Any elector could possibly go against the will of people and cast their vote for whomever they want (Dahl). There should be no electors in the first place, they serve no purpose. Instead, all votes should just go directly to the candidate. Secondly, the electoral votes are set up so that it is possible to have a tie. In this case the vote goes to the Congress and each state gets one vote (Booker). This would widen the gap of public opinion even further: one vote for California which has 35.5 million residents and one vote for Wyoming with 500,000 residents. What a large gap of representation!
People will try to make the case that there are many advantages to the Electoral College. It is said that because of this system, not as much money needs to be spent. Because the candidates only have to focus on the swing states that they have to focus less on gaining money or if they decided to take public financing, the public is able to supply less money to candidates to run their campaigns because they have such a small area to focus on. Another case is that there is less chance for corruption- so much focus and attention is on a smaller area because of the way the system works that it would be harder of candidates to win by nefarious means.
While there is some merit to these advantages, the disadvantages greatly outweigh them. Candidates already use a great deal of their resources and time fundraising; they wouldn’t have much more time to spare to raise money if the election was direct. A direct election would also give voice to the minorities of each state and put out a proportional vote where every ballot was counted toward one candidate or the other instead of the majoritarian, winner-take-all formula.
We need to abolish the Electoral College as soon as possible and replace it with a direct election. We need the people to vote for president- instead of voting for unnecessary electors that just complicate the system. So many votes carry no value because of the winner-take-all scheme that excludes third party candidates. In some states votes count for much more than the votes in others- this is completely unfair in a supposed democratic system. It’s time that the people’s voices are heard and have the majority decide who is to fill the country’s highest office.